Category - birmingham

The stability of HMP Birmingham was being adversely affected by the high volume of illicit drugs available, says Peter Clarke, Chief Inspector of Prisons. He reported that prison managers and staff were clearly committed to moving on and making progress after the disturbance last year.

The Methodist Church in Birmingham and Birmingham City Council made a landmark announcement on Saturday, 12 September 2016 that the city council will be the first local authority to support the community sponsorship of Syrian refugees.

Personality politics, half-baked solutions and populist pretensions by tired political fixers are being used to disguise real, significant problems with local government, says Graeme Smith. He hopes that the shallow rhetoric of ‘people know best’ can suffer a similar fate to that of elected mayors, in favour of renewed democracy and a decent appreciation of expert knowledge in its proper place.

Quakers take pride in the history of nineteenth-century Quaker employers, many known for their progressive thinking. Some have suggested that they can now be a model for us in developing a form of "ethical capitalism". But the most forward-thinking nineteenth century Quakers called not for philanthropy but for fundamental change to the economic system. Their example can inspire us to reject capitalism altogether and to seek alternatives.

Pope Benedict has announced the appoinment of Bernard Longley, currently Auxiliary Bishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Westminster, as the next Archbishop of Birmingham in succession to Vincent Nichols.